Icebreaker makes sock packaging greener
For autumn-winter 2010, New Zealand-based Icebreaker is replacing the traditional plastic banit pins used to hold pairs of its premium merino socks together with a folding cardboard wrap pack.
This makes it easier for staff to repackage socks after consumers have removed the banit pin to try them on, and means the discarded banit pins do not end up in landfills. With the removal of all plastic from the banit pin to the hanger, the sock packs are now fully recyclable.
Icebreaker is also reducing the amount of paper used in its socks packaging, and converting inner cartons used in shipping to recyclable bio bags. Shipping boxes have been replaced with biodegradable starch-based bags.
The new sock packaging is printed with vegetable-based ink on paper stock accredited by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The packaging is printed close to the US factory where the socks are manufactured to reduce unnecessary freight.
Redesigned sock and accessory retail fixtures have been redesigned to use 30% less material and hold twice as much stock, and are shipped flat to take up less freight space.
“All socks are not created equal,” says Jeremy Moon, Icebreaker founder and CEO. “Our socks are not only incredibly comfortable and hard-wearing, but demonstrate Icebreaker’s core commitment to sustainability.”
In another environmental initiative, consumers are able to use Baacode, Icebreaker’s pioneering traceability programme, to trace the merino wool used in their socks right back to the New Zealand farms where it was grown.
Icebreaker socks control moisture, are breathable, stay warm when wet, resist odour, and are soft and non-itchy.
